Nov 06, 2017 | sjohnston | 2128 views
TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
Peewee AE Stars Did Not Fall in Niagara…
The St. Thomas Stars Peewee AE team travelled to Niagara Falls, Ontario this past weekend (Nov. 3-5) to play in the Peter Mancuso Memorial Tournament. The tournament featured over 120 teams in the Novice to Peewee age groups. This was the Stars’ first tournament action of the season and the schedule had the Stars opening up the tournament against long-time rival Erie North Shore. The boys dug deep and were able to pull off a 3-1 victory with solid goaltending as they scored all three goals in the 3rd period.
Day 2 consisted of two games; the first was a mid-day clash against the Oshawa Generals that proved to be a tough one for the Stars as the Generals scored two late goals to tie the game in a 3-3 contest. In Saturday night’s main event, the Stars faced the Flamborough Sabres with both teams needing a win to get to the finals, it promised to be a competitive game and the boys from St. Thomas rose to the occasion with another gut checking 5-3 win with scoring from the back-end and a hat trick by Jack Smith.The win placed the Stars as the top seed after round robin play and would in turn put them back on the ice against the Oshawa Generals in the Championship game.
The Championship game did not come without drama, as St. Thomas reversed roles on the Generals and came back from a 3-2 deficit with less than 2 minutes to go in regulation. Justin McBurney scored the fourth and winning goal with only 4.92 seconds on the clock to win the game and the Championship 4-3 for the Stars. From the first puck drop in the first game of the tournament the team controlled the play in the offensive zone, creating scoring chances from overall team puck pressure and relentless fore-checking from all forward lines. The defensive group also got involved in the offensive play with multiple blue liners getting on the score sheet. The team’s defensive side of the puck continues to improve with each game as all players work to support the team’s two hardworking goaltenders.
Overall the weekend couldn’t have been a better way to bring the players, coaches and families closer as a team!!
GO STARS GO!!!
Written By Coach Mark Ellis